Boubyan Bank records KD 12.6 million in net profits for the first quarter of this year

Al-Majed: Total Sukuk Issuance Oversubscribed by More Than 2.6 Fold Highlighting the Solid International and Regional Reputation of Boubyan Bank 

Despite the Ongoing Crisis, the Bank Has Continued Topping the Pyramid of Customer Service Atop Islamic Banks in Kuwait

Boubyan Bank has announced KD 24.8 million in operating profits for the first quarter of this year, while continuing to allocate provisions amounting to KD 12 million, thereby recording KD 12.6 million approximately in net profits at a growth rate of 23% compared with past year, while the earning per share amounts to 3.97 fils.

Boubyan Bank’s Vice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adel Al-Majed, stated: “We are still adopting the same strategy and same plans of the past year where we combated the Covid-19 pandemic in view of the continued crisis and its repercussions clearly affecting the banking industry.”

“Despite the exceptional circumstances we are going through, Boubyan Bank has confirmed its ability to weather this storm and to continue providing the highest levels of customer service while maintaining flexibility in incorporating our services and products via our various digital channels to make the lives of our customers much easier.”, he added.

Al-Majed went on to add: “We hope that the economic sectors in Kuwait return to work normally in light of the efforts exerted by the various bodies in Kuwait to vaccinate the majority of Kuwaitis and expats in order to pave the way for the reopening of all sectors and the gradual return to normal life.”

“Of course, we had to allocate additional precautionary provisions to support the bank’s financial position, and to bolster our ability to face any future repercussions of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, which is normal as a result of this unprecedented crisis; a first in our modern world.”, he elaborated. 

** Positive Results: 

Al-Majed highlighted the most significant numbers recorded by the bank during the first quarter of this year where the total of customers’ deposits grew by 12.5% to reach KD 5.2 billion, while the financing portfolio grew by 8% to reach KD 4.9 billion, and operating income grew by 9% to reach KD 45 million.

Speaking of the bank’s market shares, the bank’s share of local financing increased generally to 10.4% approximately, while Boubyan Bank’s share of retail finance grew to about 13%, thereby positioning Boubyan Bank in the third place among local banks in terms of the financing portfolio.

Al-Majed went on to highlight prominent achievements during Q1 of this year, the most significant thereof was the bank’s regional and international success in covering the USD 500 million sukuk issuance at 3.95% annual profit rate.

He added: “The total subscription requests exceeded USD 1.3 billion (the issuance was oversubscribed by 2.6 fold the issued sukuk). This confirms Boubyan Bank’s international and regional status and reputation, gained owing to its achievements over the past years across many levels.”

** The Best in Customer Service

On the other hand, the crisis caused by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Kuwait has revealed the strength of Boubyan Bank and how it continued with its quality customer service without compromising the high levels maintained over the past years. This helped the bank continue topping the pyramid of customer service in Kuwait, which was confirmed by being named the Best Islamic Bank in Customer Service for the eleventh year in a row since 2010 by Service Hero, the international consumer-driven customer satisfaction index. 

Furthermore, as a part of the growth plans for our bank’s branches across various areas of Kuwait to serve its customers, the bank inaugurated its new Mubarkiya Branch that will serve both retail and corporate customers. The branch is divided into two main parts; one to serve retail customers while the other will be serving corporate customers.

The bank continued supporting its human resources by announcing the acceptance of a new group of employees in GUST’s MBA program, which has been launched since 10 years to support the bank’s human resources, making Boubyan the only bank that supports its employees in their journey to earn an MBA by providing them with moral support and financial incentives.

Since 2012, more than 100 male/female employees earned their MBA degrees from GUST within the framework of the joint program by Boubyan and GUST, which is managed by Itqan Academy, the training arm of the bank.

Meanwhile on another front, the bank started a staff campaign two months ago to encourage its employees to get vaccinated. This campaign was an instant success since the number of vaccinated employees jumped to more than 30% and is expected to grow over the coming weeks to reach the targeted percentage by the government.

** Serving Our Society and Interaction with Our Customers

In an attempt to support the government efforts, Boubyan Bank has launched a campaign to encourage its customers and employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine to reach the first one million of vaccinated people in Kuwait in order to achieve herd immunity, thereby making Boubyan the first among local banks to practically support these efforts.

The campaign included a group of activities which will begin with collaboration with a number of Boubyan SMEs customers, where the bank’s customers will earn free products from these SMEs upon showing the Vaccination Certificate.

Through this type of events, the bank will achieve two goals; supporting the bank’s SMEs customers, and giving simple gifts to customers holding any of the various accounts with the bank to show appreciation for their keenness on the health of the society, the safety of others and that of Kuwait.

To keep pace with the recent developments in the social media scene, Boubyan Bank held an open discussion with its customers and the public through Boubyan Bank’s Diwaniya at Clubhouse, the famous App. This makes it the first bank and the first private sector institution to take such a step towards holding a transparent dialogue at the executive management’s level to exchange ideas with the attendance.

© Press Release 2021